Splash dampener for beverage containers



Nov. 7, 1944. P. c. CLOVIS 2,362,354

SPLASH DAMPENER FOR BEVERAGE CONTAINERS Filed March 21, 1942 W v m"/3404 C. CZov/Lr Patented Nov; 7., 1944 PafnliCJClovis', K nilwmnin g.v

reclaims (01. 6551s This? invention *relates to a device adapted topreven-tdiquid -fr6m*spi1iine:{out-of athe-surging"either-liquidtliereinz. I

AS -is tvellfkriown, considerable difficulty is ex? and--'thelike sinceabrupt stopping and; starting of -thetrainiandmovement;-thereofgthroughlat;

eral play betwejemthe rai1'scauses '"a surging'of thebverage-within'itsf'containerwithj the ';resu1t that th'e=1iquidf-spii1s"-oufi iof the container into the saiiicergion' the table*ClotIt-f and at times upon the-clothing of thepatron;

Itis an important object of th' 'presentin'ven'i tion-to'prpvidemeans'forefie'ctiveiy darnping the surging ofaiiquidwithinzacontain'erf. v

It 'i-s another obiect 'of 'theinvention to'' provide damping;meanswhich may bi 'insertedwith'in a. beverage container withif-greatfa'cility and 1 which may be manufa'ctiired with. extremely; low 1 costn sti-i-l another' object of the invention is to pro-1 vide dampingmeans of the above character which in no way interferes withfihjstirringof the-beverage-and whichinndwayinterferes with a.

thenormaipro'cess'oi'drinkin gi; v

-A'notherobj ect of the "invention is to; provide damping" means-of-tthe'? above-"character".which may-be *tzorivnintly ponstructedfandiassembled friim -sheet material -such*'-aspaperfsheet metal,

or'-=a; pla'stic.---' I, 7

A=Sti-1-l-flfi'tlierobjectnf theinventidn istoTpro; vide -Wdamper-of theabo've character which is so, i constructed and arranged"as-'= to".efi'ectively engage the inner-'surface-of" a'container uponthe mereinsertionthereof inv the container, this being th'cas'e even:though tli"container is so formed. thatthe walls thereof diverge? outwardly Lands;W3 Y I I Many'btheroiobjectsiandadvantages of the'iinvention"willibeco'me 'apparentfrom the following specificationand .1acc'o'mpanyiniga drawing, in

fguregl representspa perspective =view. of,an article embodyin my. in eion; A Figure 1a represents a fragmentaryelevational vie/wnpfgone.ofnthel members shown in :Figurel Fiureznrepre'sents' across-isectionaltview showing, the" adaptationof my; invention to @adrinking gl'a'ss I v I c Figure 3. represents-1a .CIOSS-SGiCtiOIlMWiEWzof a 1 damper embodying my invention as: applied tosa 1,- beverageicqntamer having upwardly converging walls;

Figure 4 represents a cross-sectional view show- 55 it will"be'subjectedi IIfthis"regafdfhttenfid meme appii'ca't'ion of mysnvennen-jtoa-b'everde container having upwardly diverg-ing'WalIS 1 Figure-5represents'a' topiola' "viewmf-am assemblysuchas thatshown in-"Fieurejperienced -in serving beverages iniailr'oawdin'ers 5, 1

Figure 6 represents a top-mien vi'ewof -thea a beverag-e container-in'=*a -manner wherebv damper issecurely hidih agiven-pdsition withth'container; and

iron'i'th'e spirit and scope of the=inventin asset forth"in'theapperid'ed-clainisr tan'ce about" 'half way ac'ross th respective'wheew"With suchF-a' 'ctinstru'ction?"it-will be understood? thattwosucn'sheets may be assembled together to provide a radial dainpinigcons'tructior'i byslid' ing the 'slottd -bortions of the respectivesheets together as shdwn'clearly'in'Fiure l. 3

It viri'll be understo od; 'bfcourseythat the height to which "thedamping members-{are constructed may be varied depending upon themmre ofthe beveragecontainer and thevicienee of 'the"s'h1.= ck to which theeontainer wiil b subjected so l'ongft as the height'of'the'damping-members"is*sufli cient to provid the desired dainpinQYTeficV' L,directed to l ignre=2-wherein a'drinkingiglass I 5 having -upward1ydivrging waillsfiis =snbwn:-* Iii such a container the depth is suchthat the pos-' sibilities of surging and spilling of the beverage Figure7 is" a plan" vieware modified fo iiii' of' t are greatest when thecontainer is more than half full. Thereafter, the possibilities ofspilling due to surging are greatly reduced since the walls are ofsuflicient depth to themselves dampen any movement of the beverageupwardly thereon. Thus it will be seen that the damping construction isdisposed at the height in the container below which the possibilities ofspilling are reduced to a minimum by the walls thereof.

To the end that the friction surface by which the ends of the dampingmembers In, H, 12, and I3 engage the inner surface of a wall whichconverges outwardly and upwardly, there may be provided feet IS, IT, IS,and I9 which constitute angularly disposed flanges at the outer ends ofthe respective damping members. With such a construction, it will beseen that the necessity for relying upon the frictional engagement ofthe relatively thin ends of the damping members is avoided, and there ispresented a greatly increased surface for holding the damping memberswithin the container.

In those beverage container constructions, such as that shown inFigure3, wherein the inner surface of the container converges inwardly andupward y, Orin those uses where straws are provided for drinkingpurposes, the aforementioned friction abutment between the inner surfaceof the container and the outer ends of the damping elements is notnecessary; thus, the damping assembly may be constructed to aiford asliding fit with the adjacent portion of the inner surface of thecontainer whereby it may be rotated therein to provide for stirring andthe like.

In Figure 3 there is shown a beverage container 20 having walls whichconverge upwardly. With sucha construction, the damping assembly, asstated above, need have no frictional engagement with the inner surfaceof the container and may be inserted through the relatively smallopening therein by a slight flexing or bowing of the damping sections toreduce their length whereuponthey may be released to afford a secure,-interlocking engagement with the container as shown in Figure 3., Inthis construction the damping elements, three of which are shown atIlla, l2a, andl3 a, may be in length slightly less than the diameter ofthe container at the point aligned with the respective point on the endedge of the damping member and, furthermore, the flanges describedabovemay be, dispensed with, thereby providing for stirring.Furthermore, it will-be seen that, inconstructions such as shown inFigures 2 and 3, the spoon may be inserted, through one of thecompartments provided, into the space beneath the damping devicewhereupon the liquid may be stirred.

In a construction such as that shown in Figures 4 and 5, that is,wherein the walls of the container 2| diverge upwardly,; it ispreferable that the damping assemblynof the character shown in Figure 1be utilized, it being understood, however, that the contour of the edgeof each of the damping elements is preferably shaped to conform to theconfiguration of the inner surface of the particular container beingused.

It will be understood that the forming 'of the damping elements toconform. to the configuration of the inner surface of the containerbeing used may be avoided by dis bsing the damping assembly a distanceabove the curvature at the.

bottom of a cup, and to this end the construction shown in Figure 6 maybe utilized for maintaining the damping device in assembled relationshipwith the cup throughout a drinking operation.

As stated previously, it is contemplated that the damping devicedisclosed herein be constructed from sheet material such as paper, thinmetal, or a plastic, under which circumstances it will be flexible sothat it may be inserted in a container having a relatively smallopening, such as that shown in Figure 3, andso that, if the dampingelements have a length greater than the respective diameter of thecontainer in which they are to be used, as shown at lllb, Hb, l2b, and I3b in Figure 6, these elements may be flexed into a bowed formation,such as that shown in Figure 6, whereby the end edges thereof are forcedagainst the inner surface of the cup to retain the desired assembledrelationship.

It has been found that the damping element need not extend downwardlyinto abutting relationship with the bottom of the cup to eirectivelydampen the surging of the liquid within the container and, furthermore,it has been found that varying numbers of the damping elements may beprovided to attain the end desired so long as these elements are sodisposed that they occupy planes lying in non-parallel relationship sothat surging of the beverage within the container in all directions iseifectively dampened.

A highly eflicient construction is that shown in Figure '7 wherein thedamping elements I00, H0,

120, and B6 are provided with end flanges Hic,

merely by having rotary movement imparted thereto. v o

I claim as my invention: 1. As an article of manufacture, a surge damperfor a beverage container including plate-like wall members having alength on the order of the diameter of a container in which they areadapted to be disposed in a substantially vertical position, means foraffording friction engagement between the ends of the members and theinner surface of a container including flanges disposed along the edgesof said members and at an angle thereto, said flanges being adapted forface-toface engagement with the inner surface of thecontainer.

2. The combination with a beverage container of means for dampingthe'surging of liquid therein, said means including plate-like membersdis-- posable vertically therein and formed fromflexible material, saidmembers being in length greater than the respective diameter of thecontainer and being constructed and arranged to be','clistorted intobowed configuration whereby] the edges thereof abut theinside surface ofthe co'ntainer with pressure engagement when .said

means is inserted in the'container a position substantially verticalrelative thereto and friction surfaces at the edges of said members:including flanges disposed-along said edges and at an angle thereto,said flanges being adapted for face-to-face engagement with the innersurface of the container.

PAUL C. CLOVIS.

